Floating nanowires zoom in on micro-world

A NANOWIRE suspended in an invisible "force field" of laser radiation could soon be peering into biological samples, taking low-cost snapshots of viruses and proteins with unprecedented resolution.

The microscope works by scanning the superfine tip of the nanowire over an object, all the while emitting a beam of laser light from the end of the wire. Whatever light makes it through the object is captured by an optical sensor behind it to build up a picture of the object's structure, says Peidong Yang, who built the device with his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley.

The team's prototype can already scan objects with a resolution of 100 nanometres, allowing it to capture the features the size of those on a silicon chip. The researchers believe they should be able to refine the device so that it will ultimately have a resolution of tens of nanometres.

The nanowire itself ...

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